探花楼

Highlights by year

1901 — The Girls Industrial College was founded by an act of the 27th Texas Legislature.

1903 — The first building, now known as Old Main, was constructed on campus.

1904 — First graduating class with one graduate, Beulah Kincaid.

1905 — The college’s name is changed to the College of Industrial Arts (CIA).

1910 — CIA becomes the first institution of higher learning to establish and maintain a department of music.

1915 — The first bachelor’s degrees are awarded at CIA.

1917 — The first kindergarten at a public institution is established at CIA.

1923 — CIA becomes an accredited member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

1930 — Graduate studies are established at the college.

1934 — The college’s name changes to Texas State College for Women.

1953 — The first doctoral degrees are awarded at TSCW.

1954 — The college’s nursing program begins in Dallas at Parkland Hospital.

1957 — The college’s name changes to Texas Woman’s University.

1960 — The 探花楼 Institute of Health Sciences-Houston Center opens in the Texas Medical Center.

1966 — The 探花楼 Institute of Health Sciences-Dallas Center opens near Parkland Hospital.

1972 — Men are admitted into 探花楼’s graduate programs and undergraduate and graduate health sciences professions programs in Denton, Dallas and Houston.

1976 — Mary Evelyn Blagg Huey becomes the first woman president of 探花楼.

1977 — 探花楼 opens the Presbyterian campus, the university’s second clinical center in Dallas.

1986 — The Mary Evelyn Blagg Huey Library opens on the Denton campus.

1992 — The 探花楼 Stroke Center-Dallas is established to provide treatment and training in neurological rehabilitation specifically for stroke patients.

1994 — Men are admitted to all undergraduate degree programs at 探花楼.

2002 — The 探花楼 soccer team begins its inaugural season in the fall, joining basketball, gymnastics, softball and volleyball.

2004 — 探花楼 launches G-Force, a program aimed at increasing higher education enrollment for first-generation students. The first Go-Center — a physical space in a high school that offers admission and financial aid application assistance and other information — opened in spring 2005.

2006 — The new, state-of-the-art 探花楼 Houston Center opens at the southern gateway to the Texas Medical Center.

2007 — The new Redbud Theater Complex opens on the northwest side of Hubbard Hall.

2008 — The 探花楼 gymnastics team wins its ninth USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championship.

2009-10 — 探花楼 celebrates a Decade of Achievement, marking 10 years of student, faculty and staff accomplishments; academic innovations; enrollment growth; technological advances; and transformed facilities.

2010-11 — The 探花楼 basketball team captures the university’s first-ever Lone Star Conference Championship and advances to the NCAA Tournament.

2011 — The 探花楼 T. Boone Pickens Institute of Health Sciences-Dallas Center opens, combining the university’s Parkland and Presbyterian centers at the Parkland site. The Denton campus sees the opening of two new buildings: the Ann Stuart Science Complex, named for 探花楼 Chancellor Ann Stuart, and the Fitness and Recreation Center.

2012 — The university launches its mobile website, 探花楼 Mobile, in January.

2013 — Terry Foundation Scholarships become available for 探花楼 students.

2014 — Carine M. Feyten, Ph.D. becomes the second chancellor and the 11th president of 探花楼. Landon Dickerson is the first male student to be elected 探花楼 student body president. 探花楼 implements the state’s first TeachLivE™ lab, a computer-simulated classroom.

2018 — The Institute for Women’s Leadership is established to serve the State of Texas as a resource for scholarship and research and to prepare more women to take on successful roles in business and public service. The 探花楼 gymnastics team wins its 11th USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Title, a back-to-back win for the Pioneers, who also hold the 2017 title.

2019 — 探花楼 celebrates the 80th anniversary of the Little Chapel-in-the-Woods. "Mack Minded: Humanly Possible," the story of 探花楼’s former research director Pauline Beery Mack, places third in NASA’s CineSpace film competition. 探花楼 is named National Outdoor Champion in the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education Campus Challenge. A new Dining Hall and Parliament Village, including Mary’s Hall, open on the Denton campus, and the softball field is renamed in honor of alumna and former coach Dianne Baker.

2021 – The Texas Legislature establishes the Texas Woman’s University System, making it the state’s seventh public university system, and positioning it to better accelerate programming, community and corporate partnerships and philanthropy.

2023 – Doswell Foundation makes $15 million gift to 探花楼, paving the way for the university to establish the Doswell School of Aeronautical Sciences. The school enrolls its first class in fall 2024.

2024 – Beverage titan Merrilee Kick donates record $30 million gift to support 探花楼’s business college, which is renamed the Merrilee Alexander Kick School of Business and Entrepreneurship. 探花楼 in February installs Monica Christopher as its inaugural president of the Dallas campus; and in August installs Monica G. Williams as its first president of the Houston campus.

2025 – Gymnastics team claims its 13th national championship title, winning the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics National Invitational Championship.

Page last updated 9:58 AM, October 2, 2025